Tag: online poker

Tiltware – Full Tilt Poker Response to Phil Ivey

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Late Tuesday night Phil Ivey took to his Facebook account and his personal website to announce that he was leaving Full Tilt Poker and suing them. He also said he would not play in this year’s WSOP in solidarity of the player’s who have money stuck on Full Tilt Poker and cannot not play in this year’s WSOP. Late Wednesday night Tiltware – Full Tilt Poker issued the following response which to us seems to have been written by someone who was very angry….

“Contrary to his sanctimonious public statements, Phil Ivey’s meritless lawsuit is about helping just one player – himself. In an effort to further enrich himself at the expense of others, Mr. Ivey appears to have timed his lawsuit to thwart pending deals with several parties that would put money back in players’ pockets. In fact, Mr. Ivey has been invited — and has declined — to take actions that could assist the company in these efforts, including paying back a large sum of money he owes the site. Tiltware doubts Mr. Ivey’s frivolous and self-serving lawsuit will ever get to court. But if it does, the company looks forward to presenting facts demonstrating that Mr. Ivey is putting his own narrow financial interests ahead of the players he professes to help.”

There is much more to this who saga and we will continue to work every angle in the hopes of finding out exactly what is going on. Much that has been reported is opinions and speculation on Ivey’s finances and contract with Full Tilt Poker.

The Poker Stars Majors Are Moving: Double Guarantees & Satellites To Celebrate

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Now that the U.S. won’t be contributing the majority of the player pool to the Poker Stars Sunday Majors tournaments, the site is moving the times of those events to be more appealing to the new majority player base: the UK and Europe. As of this Sunday, June 5, 2011, all Sunday Majors tournaments – that’s the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up, Sunday Rebuy, Sunday Storm, Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Second Chance and Sunday Supersonic events – will be pushed ahead two hours.

That means instead of starting at 1 pm ET, the Sunday Warm-Up will start at 11 am ET. And instead of starting at 4:30 pm ET, the Sunday Million will start at 2:30 pm ET. And so on. (The only Sunday Majors event not to get rescheduled as part of these changes, incidentally, is the Sunday Kick-Off, which will retain its usual 8 pm ET time slot.)

To add a little incentive to show up for this big weekend of major changes, Poker Stars is doubling the guaranteed prize pools for each of these events. Added all together, what you get is a nearly five million dollar weekend. But the double guarantees will be for June 5 only.

PokerStars will also be running satellite tournaments into each of these tournaments all week long leading up the June 5 festivities. To help players practice getting to the tables at the right new times, PokerStars has scheduled each event’s daily satellite at the same hour as the newly scheduled time slot for its respective Sunday Majors event.

Merge Poker Network to Halt New US Player Signups

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The Merge Poker Network will temporarily stop accepting NEW US players in a day or 2 in order to catch up on a backlog of customer service requests but more importantly on poker transactions. As it stands now customer service has a 2 week backlog and cashouts are much worse. They simply were not prepared for the influx of players they’ve received since Black Friday and are feeling growing pains. If they don’t catch up soon they will end up angering all their players. This is for NEW Players Only, for all existing players it will be business as usual.

The only part of this story that we have not yet been able to confirm is if this is for all Merge Skins or just those that use the Merge cashier and customer support. We’ll update this post as soon as we get confirmation.

We’ve been told that the temporary ban on new US players will last about a month but from past experience in dealing with the Merge Network we’re guessing it will last through the end of the summer. What they will be trying to do is add more processing options as well as hire more customer support personnel to handle the extra traffic.

This move was brought on by internal rumblings among Merge Poker skin operators regarding the current processing problems. With the loss of QuickTender / UseMyWallet the main option became credit cards. the success rate for successful credit card transactions is roughly 20% which is just unacceptable. It is rumored that for Carbon Poker the success rate is closer to 70% which leads us to believe that the Merge Network was putting their site Carbon Poker ahead of all others. This lack of transparency will only lead to more problems and is most likely the main reason this is happening.

UPDATE: This is now in affect. We’ll let you know when they reopen to new US poker players.

Phil Ivey Sues Full Tilt Poker, Won’t play the 2011 WSOP

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Last night Team Phil Ivey released a press release via the popular social networking site Facebook which left many in the online poker world scratching their heads and wondering if his account had been hacked. The press release is real and Mr Phil Ivey will not be playing in the 2011 WSOP unless all US and international Full Tilt Poker players begin to get paid. Ivey also announced that he has filed a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker parent company Tiltware for $150 million seeking repayment of player funds.

Overnight Ivey took a lot of heat for his statement from organizations like the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Bryan Spadaro, of the PPA has this to sat via twitter “Never lost more respect for a person from a Facebook post than what Phil Ivey did today. Nice way to see short term and backstab. #jumpship” Once again the PPA doesn’t get it and at this point never will. Holdem Poker Chat privately pulled all support for the PPA following their post Black Friday comments. Now we’re doing it publicly. This organization has run it’s course and has achieved nothing but give poker players false hope.

Shortly after Ivey’s release went viral his good friend and fellow Team full Tilt Pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan also hit twitter offering him a pat on the back by saying “Yo @philivey poker isn’t a sport… Rest of your statement is awesome though.” Dwan will be playing the WSOP, but he has also gone on record as saying that if US players do not get paid that he will give back 100% of the income he received from Full Tilt Poker.

Here is a full copy of Phil Ivey’s Press Release:

For many years, I have been proud to call myself a poker player. This great sport has taken me to places I only imagined going and I have been blessed with much success. It is therefore with deep regret that I believe I am compelled to release the following statement.

I am deeply disappointed and embarrassed that Full Tilt players have not been paid money they are owed. I am equally embarrassed that as a result many players cannot compete in tournaments and have suffered economic harm. I am not playing in the World Series of Poker as I do not believe it is fair that I compete when others cannot. I am doing everything I can to seek a solution to the problem as quickly as possible.

My name and reputation have been dragged through the mud, through the inactivity and indecision of others and on behalf of all poker players I refuse to remain silent any longer. I have electronically filed a lawsuit against Tiltware related to the unsettled player accounts. As I am sure the public can imagine, this was not an easy decision for me.

I whole heartedly refuse to accept non-action as to repayment of players funds and I am angered that people who have supported me throughout my career have been treated so poorly.

I sincerely hope this statement will ignite those capable of resolving the problems into immediate action and would like to clarify that until a solution is reached that cements the security of all players, both US and International, I will, as I have for the last six weeks, dedicate the entirety of my time and efforts to finding a solution for those who have been wronged by the painfully slow process of repayment.

How Did Black Friday Happen Anyway? Daniel Tzvetkoff: FBI Rat.

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If you’re sitting there scratching your head like we were about how the FBI could have built its case strongly enough to get the DOJ to issue those warrants that forced the shutdown of three of the biggest poker sites on the Internet, here’s how: an insider ratted them out. That is, an individual engaging in illegal online gambling entrepreneurial activity himself cut a deal with US authorities to save his own rear from the frying pan by helping to bring down bigger fish than he.

The “he” in question is one Daniel Tzvetkoff, and the more you find out about this guy, the less you like him. He and a partner created Instabill which, as you might now, is one of the payment processors that helps arrange financial transactions between the online gambling sites and its players, including U.S. players – a big no-no according to Uncle Sam.

Apparently (or “allegedly” as we’re supposed to say) Tzvetkoff laundered some $540 million through Instabill: money that was supposed to go to Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker but ended up going into his pocket. Living high on the hog on his clients’ money, it only makes sense they went ahead and sued him.

Arrested in New York in 2008 while attending a conference, Tzvetkoff began worming his way out of his legal hole then by, it seems, turning the tables on those very sites, in essence biting the hand that had stopped feeding him once they realized he’d already bitten a chunk out of them before.

The upshot (call it payback, call it irony) is that Tzvetkoff still faces charges with a penalty of up to 75 years in prison in his own native Australia if they can just get our hands off him and theirs on him.

Victory Poker Closes its Doors

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Victory Poker is now closed. All the players and account balances will be transferred over to Cake Poker. This news does not come as a surprise to anyone. Victory Poker seems to have been doomed to fail from the beginning when they decided to start off on the small Everleaf Network. After a few months they moved over the the Cake Poker network and hired some great poker industry people to run the site and we thought maybe they would turn into a good site. Sadly they never lived up to expectations and we regret promoting them.

On April 17th, 2 days after Black Friday, Victory Poker decided to stop serving US players and focused on the European market. Things did not go as planned and as of now they are closed completely. As mentioned all balances will be transferred as well as any gold chips or pending bonuses.

Quality Online Poker Sites

The moral of the story is that Victory Poker should have spent more time working on a good marketing plan rather then making videos.

Luvin Poker Introduces the “Bad Beat Guard”

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Luvin Poker and the Everleaf Poker Network know that you’re sick of bad beats? That is exactly why they invented the patent pending Bad Beat Guard!

The concept is simple really, anytime you play at a BBG table (labeled as “BAD BEAT GUARD”), you’ll have a shot at recovering the money lost from each and every bad beat you experience at a cash game table.

Whenever a player goes all-in at a BBG table, the software automatically calculates the winning chance of every player in the pot. These chances are then displayed as a percentage under the name of each player. Now, if someone loses a hand while their winning percentage was higher than the bad beat cutoff (the percentage displayed in the table label), they’ll have what they put in that pot refunded, in full!

Aside from that, everything about the BBG tables is identical to to all the other tables.

Get to those tables and start saying no to bad beats!

Terms and Conditions:

  • Not all poker tables have a Bad Beat Guard*.  Texas Hold’em games featuring BBG are identified by the description (e.g. Bad Beat Guard).
  • Standard ring-game and tournament rules apply while playing tables with a Bad Beat Guard.  The rules of play do not change; only pot distribution is occasionally modified to refund players if a qualifying Bad Beat occurs.
  • If you take a qualifying Bad Beat in a main or side pot, you’ll be refunded the entire wager you committed to that pot.  However, this does not necessarily mean you’ll be refunded the entire wager you committed to every pot that hand.  Each main or side pot is evaluated separately for qualifying Bad Beats to ensure required conditions are satisfied and pots are distributed appropriately.
  • The calculation of win probability includes the hole cards of players who contributed to the contested pot and still remain at the showdown, as well as the community cards shown at the point of the hand when the relevant All-In wager was made for that pot.
  • The calculation of win probability does NOT include the cards of players who folded in the hand. This is true even if a player called the All-In wager in the pot, but folded in a later round of betting for another side pot.
  • The calculation of win probability includes the probability of winning by a tie.  Therefore, a player with 64.74% probability to win outright and 5.65% probability to win by tie, will show a win probably of 70.39%.
  • The Bad Beat Cutoff % is a distinct percent (i.e., 70%) set prior to play commencing, which acts as a hurdle percentage rate upon which your win probability must exceed in order to qualify for a Bad Beat.  The BBC% of each game can be found in the table or tournament description (e.g., @ 70%).
  • In order to qualify for a Bad Beat, your win probability when rounded at 2 decimal places must exceed the BBC%.  Therefore, if the BBC% is set at 65%, then a player with win probability of 64.99% or even 65.00% would NOT qualify.
  • If there are two or more hands that qualify for a Bad Beat in the same pot (due to probability of a tie), then each player would be refunded the entire wager they committed to that pot, effectively overturning both Bad Beats.  The high hand is then awarded the remainder of the pot.
  • A player receiving disconnect-protection is considered to be “technically all-in” for Bad Beat qualification purposes.
  • Luvin Poker does not tolerate collusion. All players must act independently and not reveal their hands to other players, nor tell them how to act.  Failure to abide by these rules may result in the closure of your account.

* Patent Pending Technology

Ten More Online Gambling Sites Shut Down

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The US government is at it again. If you thought Black Friday on Friday, April 15, 2011 was the end of the Department of Justice’s indictments against online gambling sites operating illegally within the United States, you would be mistaken. Introducing the second and latest salvo in this brutal battle: Blue Monday, May 23, 2011, when the DOJ, with cooperation from the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS, charged three more people in connection with two online gambling companies covering a total of about 10 sites for violation of the 2006 UIGEA.

Just one day before the Poker Player’s Alliance descended on watching for the first National Poker Lobbying Day, the government gave them more to lobby about. Now in addition to Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars, other online poker sites like Doyles Room Poker, online sportsbetting sites like Beted and online casinos like Golden Arch Casino will no longer be operating within US borders – that is, serving US customers. Instead, US customers browsing to those site will see what’s becoming increasingly familiar in the US online gambling scene: a message from the DOJ that the domain name for the site previously located there has heretofore has been seized.

The most recent indictments were all handed down in the District of Maryland where the two companies in question have the U.S. bases of operations. As part of this round of indictments are 11 bank accounts for which the government is currently seeking forfeiture. These are no doubt where US player funds from those sites are sitting, stuck, unable to be accessed by the rightful owners. Hopefully these monies will go the way of the Poker Stars player funds previously held up, which now are safely back in players’ hands.

Some Full TIlt Poker Accounts Unfrozen

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According to a report on eGaming Review, some Full Tilt Poker bank accounts have been unfrozen by the US Department of Justice to faciliate player paybacks. According to the report most of the funds seized on April 15th belonged to Full Tilt Poker which is something most in the poker community where beginning to figure out when Full Tilt couldn’t pay players. Over the last couple of weeks rumors had been going around that Full Tilt were trying to sell off part of the company in order to raise money to pay players in the US.

Here is part of what was posted by eGaming Review:

The Full Tilt source explained this resulted from players’ poker balances being credited with money held in bank accounts seized by authorities before Full Tilt itself had been made aware of the seizures. “Because of the broad-sweeping nature of the Black Friday seizures, you had a seizure combined with a backlog and this has resulted in millions which all of a sudden became owed,” the FTP source said.

“Normally Full Tilt would cover that and take that loss, but because all their banks got shut down there was no way of doing that until recently when the government agreed to unfreeze the [Bank of Ireland] account,” he said.

We hope that this means that players will soon get paid and be able to make it to Las Vegas for the WSOP which begins next week.

Poker Stars Selling Main Event Passports For $2

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PokerStars is now selling passports into the main events of the World Series of Poker and an assortment of live poker tours sponsored by the site for as little as $2.

Win a PokerStars Main Event passport into the WSOP, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), the European Poker Tour (EPT), the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). When you win a main event passport, you get a prize package worth $13,000 into the main event of your choice from the above mentioned tours. Prize packages into some events are worth even more than $13,000, when you add in hotel accommodations and spending money.

Poker Stars is holding several satellite tournaments awarding these passports between now and July 3, 2011: cash satellites, FPP satellites and Steps satellites, all in a variety of buy-ins.

All qualifying main events are in No Limit Texas Hold’em. Choose the European Poker Tour and you’ll be entered in the EPT London main event, worth $13,700. The 2012 PCA main event prize package is worth $14,500. If you elect to play in the APPT or LAPT, you can choose which event from those series’ you wish to enter. APPT main event by-ins are usually $8,000 and LAPT main event buy-ins are usually $5,000.

There are 5 main event prize packages in all in the Poker Stars Main Event Passport promotion, You can win one prize package to a main event in each tour. If you manage to win a seat in all 5 tours, then your subsequent prizes will be credited to you in tournament dollars (T$).